Saturn 3 (1980)

"I'd be unstable too, if I knew I was going to Saturn 3." - James

Unexpected trouble arrives at a space station.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett, Harvey Keitel, and a rowbutt

Link to IMDB

Saturn 3 is an isolated research station on one of Saturn's moons and today it is receiving a new visitor, a space captain named Benson. As we saw in the prologue, Benson has recently killed a man on a distant spaceship and has effectively stolen his identity and some valuable cargo, and now he arrives on Saturn 3 for unknown reasons.
There are only two other people at the station, Adam and Alex, who are scientists working on agricultural research and living together as a happy couple. They aren't used to visitors, especially unplanned arrivals from strangers.

Alex and Adam

Benson

Benson is a really odd guy, always creeping on Alex and saying inappropriate things, and it's not long before Adam comes to hate his presence.
Benson's cargo turns out to be an advanced robot named Hector, and it's designed to help keep the station operating smoothly. Benson can link his own brain to the robot's AI, which is how he programs it to learn new tasks and behaviour, and it's clear to us that Benson's got some hidden motives for this machine because he's teaching it all of his weird habits!

When Hector kills the pet dog, Alex and Adam have had enough of this Benson creep and his equally strange robot, but the trouble has only just begun on Saturn 3.

"You have a great body, may I use it?" - Benson

The story moves slow and is delivered serious (except for the occasional unintended cheese,) but it builds tension as the unpredictable Benson disrupts the peace on the station. We know that he is a murderer, so his mind-link with Hector seems to be a recipe for disaster, but when the obvious begins to occur a surprising twist keeps the inevitable more interesting and weirder than I expected.

Getting intimate with Hector

With a decent budget, and borrowing special effect tropes from Star Wars, Alien, and 2001 A Space Odyssey, the movie has some great visuals and set-pieces. Hector is quite impressive looking, except for the odd choice of his tiny head on a hulking 8' tall hydraulic body.

Welcome to Saturn 3

Despite having lots of talent on both sides of the camera, everything suffers from a script that just doesn't give them much to do. Keitel's peculiar performance is also weakened by terrible voice dubbing. The producers didn't think his Brooklyn accent fit the movie, so his voice was entirely replaced and it's a bit distracting.

Apparently, the production was very problematic and the end result was not what the filmmakers had hoped for. You can get a sense of that as it unfolds, but it doesn't totally ruin the weird movie we did get.

Be sure not to miss:
- Hector must be related to Johnny 5, because he sure does need that Input.
- Kirk Douglas cannot say "robot," he can only say "rowbutt."
- Farrah Fawcett's breasts make it is impossible to concentrate on hydroponics.
- This deleted scene is pretty funny, as Alex and Adam trip-out on space ecstasy.

Internet review:
"It's impossible to watch without thinking of how much better it could have been." - Macek3

Should I watch it?
It's worthwhile, but far from being a classic.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

Saturn 3 gets...